Ascent of the Unwanted (The Chronicle of Unfortunate Heroes Book 1) (20 page)

              Ramona tried to hide her goosebumps and the shiver that ran down her spine. It was not the sudden confirmation of demonic power in existence. Lawt’s wound was not created by a side street magician’s trick. What gave her the chills was Oswald’s words. The little man’s knowledge of magic, he probably practiced the art himself. He spoke of the end of times with the surety of a zealot. What scared her was now she started to believe.

They looked into the last room and saw a young woman sitting at her vanity, brushing her hair. She ran her hands through her blonde locks, oblivious to the disarray and negligence in the rest of the house. She held a small hand mirror, preferring to groom and gaze into that small little reflection as opposed to the more expensive glass piece on the vanity. The girl was cute rather than beautiful and her obvious naivety enhanced her cuter aspects.

Erik cleared his throat. “Ma’am, can you tell us what happened here?”

The young lady turned, but not in response to Erik. Ramona could see a man climbing silently through the girl’s bedroom window through the reflection of the vanity. He was a handsome man, but in the cracks of his face there was a coldness. She heard Miranda gasp as the young man came into view. The young lady stood and spoke, placing her mirror on the vanity. No sound accompanied the movement of her mouth, nor did any sound escape the young stranger’s lips when he responded. The conversation between the two continued with no notice of the group, a silent play with the actors unaware they were being watched.

The man pleaded and the woman demurred. The man grew angry and grabbed the girl’s arm and she opened her mouth in scream. He drew a knife and bared it threateningly at her neck. The girl stopped struggling as her eyes filled with tears. He ripped her dressing gown at the top exposing her bare breasts. Now the tears rolled down her cheeks, her eyes and nose reddening. He shoved her on to her bed and began untying his trousers. He advanced on the woman and the room went completely dark. A scream pierced the air so loudly Ramona had to hold her ears to prevent the noise from damaging them.

The torch light slowly penetrated the darkness, faintly at first, then stronger. Blood painted the room. The young lady now lay on her back legs exposed. She had bruising around her neck and her stomach was cut open, her entrails pulled out and strewn about her bed. The caked blood on the walls and ceiling did not prevent small pools of blood to form on the floor.

“Noooooo!” Erik screamed. He threw his torch at the bed and rushed from the room.

“Erik! Wait for us!” Ramona shouted at Erik. “We cannot stay in this house,” she said to Lawt.

They quickly moved out of the room and headed down the stairs as the fire engulfed the room. “Where’s Miranda?” Oswald asked, suddenly noticing she was not with them.

“I’m coming!” Miranda called finally leaving the room, tears streaming down her face. In that instant she looked like a brown haired image of the slaughtered girl.

They escaped the house into the front courtyard. The fire appearing at one end of the house as the sun began to rise.

“We are in no shape right now to do anything. The courtyard here seems safe enough from whatever that thing out there is and we can move far enough away from the house so as not to be in any danger from the fire,” Erik said.

“We can’t just let it burn,” Lawt said.

              “My temper got the better of me. I’m sorry, but we can’t fight it on our own,” Erik said.

              Oswald began speaking but his words were arcane and his movements unnatural. Ramona realized her mouth was gaping open and audibly shut it. Finally his movement ceased and he looked closely at the house.

              “It will consume the house and burn itself out. I can’t do any more than that.”

              “You…there is such a thing as magic?” Ramona asked.

              “After what you have seen tonight do you have to ask? Or do you mean you can’t believe someone like me would know?”

              “I just…I thought…it was just…uh, I don’t know.”

              “We all have something to offer this world Ramona, if we are free to find it,” Oswald said.

              The horses walked back up to them looking for comfort due to the fire in front of them and the Fynes beyond the gate. The group pulled out their bed rolls and collapsed on the ground. With Ghost and Titan soothed, the horses stood watch as exhaustion took them.

They woke way past noon then rode into town as the sun marked that is was late afternoon. The daylight gave them a temporary reprieve from the hell spawn that chased them last night. The squalor in this town was not as noticeable. The towns closest to the seats of power were usually maintained better as the nobles would not want anything inconveniencing their daily travels. The only young men they saw again were patrols that paced up and down the main street as an obvious show of force. Nobody dared to look at soldiers or their new visitors for fear of drawing suspicion.

Even when the brothel thugs came down on the women Miranda had never felt an atmosphere of such despair and oppression. Few people were doing business in the market and the mongers were not even trying to pull people in to see their wares. The main fortress gates were swung open wide for passage as they rode through. It was not much of a palace but it was fortified and larger than the house they burned down last night.

They rode to the main door and dismounted. Miranda tried very hard not to hide her face and present herself with the same confidence Erik and Lawt naturally held. The guards all leaned against the walls on either side of the door. Finally one stood up and walked over as if annoyed at their presence and asked, “What do you need?”

“Would you please notify your master that Lawt Tal’Onala and Erik Tal’Sorvae of the Roh’Darharim are here to investigate the supernatural disturbances in this Earldom as requested,” Erik said.

The guard looked the group up and down spending a particularly long time on Lawt and sneering at Oswald. He looked back at the rest of his men and shrugged while stepping inside the manor. They waited silently for the guard to return. As time went by it seemed as if they would not be allowed admittance. Finally, as the sun was setting, the guard returned and directed one of his men to take their mounts to the stables. “My master sends his apologies. He is not feeling well and it has taken him some time to make himself presentable for such noblemen as you.”

Erik led the group into the darkened hall. It was a very small anteroom made so that people had an opportunity to be announced as they entered the main hall. They waited alone in the chamber as the time dragged. “This is getting absurd,” Lawt said.

“Indeed, things seem to be taking a bit longer than necessary. I feel like we are walking into something ominous,” Erik replied.

“Well what are we going to do about it now?” Ramona asked. “Wouldn’t you know I spend years waiting to be selected and I get the two buffoons who walk into the most obvious trap on their first mission?”

“Might I suggest that you stand six paces further back than you are accustomed to. I may be able to do something,” Oswald said moving his hands in rote.

“What are you up to cripple? More frippery?” Ramona asked.

Miranda got into Ramona’s face. “It’s obvious you’re afraid but don’t take it out on us. We need to stay together if we want to get through this.”

“Miranda is right, Ramona. Erik and I will lead us in, you three stay behind us.”

“Imurous Aprijium!” Oswald exclaimed.

The four others watched as five new people appeared in the small chamber, crowding the small room. These new people were doubles of each of them that appeared and moved exactly the same as each of them.

“Neat trick.” Ramona said. “But don’t you think the ten of us will be a little obvious?”

“Everyone else will only see these five and they will always appear six paces ahead of where you stand after we get out of this cramped place,” Oswald said, his face straining.

“The Lord of the Manor will now see the Roh’Darharim!” a voice in the next room bellowed.

The doors to the main hall opened and revealed the large room. Across the great room a young man sat in the chair obviously meant to represent a throne. Behind him a middle aged, well-built soldier kept watch over the room. This soldier wore the captain of the guard’s crest that Miranda and the others had seen in the manor they had burned down. The room was two stories tall but large ornate tapestries hid the walls. Patrons and valued servants along with interspersed guardsmen stood along the walls in front of the tapestries. Without hesitating, Erik and Lawt started marching in setting a confident pace. These men moved with more confidence in his trick than she did.

Her leg quivered as she moved and she could not take a full breath. As she moved forward she realized she was marching toward Gordon. The bile in her throat began to rise.

She kept her gaze at the back of Erik’s cloak to distract her from the disgust that crawled through her gut and across her skin. It was good that she did because the men stopped sooner than she anticipated.

The view of her small group following the decoys was strange. She was following them but they were mimicking every step, every nuance of the group behind them. She kept her face emotionless giving nothing away to the onlookers.

“I thought the Cavaliers were trained in etiquette. Do you not know to kneel before your noblemen?” Gordon asked. He didn’t look at Lawt while the question escaped his mouth. He looked straight at Miranda.

“It is custom for us to kneel before no one. We are Roh’Darharim above none and subservient to no man,” Erik stated coolly, ignoring the obvious insult but instead speaking as a teacher to his pupil.

“You may not be one of my subjects but the one behind you
is
a subject of mine. Isn’t that right, Miranda?” Gordon said.

“I am sorry, Gordon, but the Miranda you spoke of was burned as a witch. You murdered her and her family! Just like you raped and murdered the daughter of your chief warden, the same chief warden who haunts your lands!” That was bolder than she intended. She could not tell if the gasps she heard around the room were uttered because of her boldness or her accusations.

“You will bow before your lord, woman!” the soldier behind Gordon yelled.

“This woman stands with us and currently her status is unknown. She will follow our protocols,” Lawt said.

“You question me? An Earl of King Coren, heir of my father Earl Jordan Wynarche over this lowly woman?” Gideon asked indignantly.

“I question no one. We make no judgment against anything until we ascertain for ourselves what the answer is. As such, she will make no action until we can determine with whom she gives her allegiance,” Lawt answered.

The murmur in the crowd grew louder. Gordon appeared taken aback and looked over his shoulder towards the soldier behind him. The soldier looked down at him with disgust and motioned his chin back towards Erik and Lawt.

“Ordinarily,” Gordon stammered, “I would tell you something flowery to alleviate any concerns you have in my Earldom, but this is tiresome. I also cannot have my subjects feel they are in anyway allowed to ignore protocols or my dictates. This meeting is over.”

“We would be glad to take your leave Earl but we have not yet discussed the matter of the beast outside your city.” Erik said.

“It’s not just outside the city!” a voice cried out.

“Is this true?” Lawt asked.

“It’s not your concern,” Gordon responded, peering into the crowd. “I would be more worried about them.”

Gordon pointed toward the tapestries. They collapsed to the ground revealing crossbowmen on balconies surrounding the hall. Miranda sighed. They had walked into a trap, just like Lawt said. The guards in the crowds congregated behind them blocking the exit.

Erik laughed. “These are your best men? I see old men and boys not old enough for their first whiskers. You have squandered your land and your people.”

“Your cloak swallows your youth, Cavalier. You are not much older than my guardsmen!” the captain of the guard said.

“Where are your men?” Erik asked.

“The king has ordered all able-bodied men to the east front. We as obedient vassals are happy to oblige,” Gordon said. “Not that this information will help you any but I don’t think our reinforcements will get there in time.”

The captain hit Gordon with the back of his hand. “You fool! The Father Oak will kill you for such ignorance! Kill these men!”

“Hold your fire!” a voice from the balcony bellowed.

“Obey me, Sergeant!” the captain screamed looking at the man who countermanded him. He was in the balcony on Miranda’s left. A young man, tall but shaking.

“No, sir! These are the King’s men. Here to help us. I will not allow my men to slaughter them.”

“You have forfeited your rank and your family will be punished for your insolence!”

Erik and Lawt had moved to either side of their small group trying to protect them from as many threats as possible. Miranda had kept her eyes on Gordon. The man sat cowed in his chair like a beaten dog.

“This is not a discussion! Kill these people!” the captain screamed.

“Fire!” the Sergeant ordered.

The crossbow bolts on the right rained down, but the ones on the left streamed across the hall to the other side. Screams erupted in the hall. The bolts that had been aimed down towards them clattered and shattered on the floor as the marksmen had aimed towards Oswald’s decoys. The decoys exploded into fog obscuring the room with a thick haze. Miranda sucked in air not realizing she had been holding her breath.

Lawt roared and charged the captain. Erik moved Ramona, Oswald, and her behind him while the guards at the door behind them advanced.

“Reload! One…two…three…”

Miranda could not tell who gave the command but, looking up, she could see men on both sides reloading crossbows. She had to assume the sergeant was giving the command as his men were reloading almost in unison to the cadence given.

The well trained captain was holding his own against the injured Lawt but the guardsmen that were facing Erik were not fairing nearly as well. Three were down and the six that remained standing advanced with less zeal than at the beginning of their march. Miranda looked back towards Gordon. He had fled from his chair. Behind the chair a door swung shut.

Miranda bolted for the door. The murderer of her family would face her wrath tonight. Moving through the door she ran up the stairs immediately behind it, torchlight now illuminating the halls. Darkness crawled over her and she heard the distant moan of the previous night’s phantom echoing in her ears. She clutched at her courage to keep it from fleeing and appeared in an intersecting hallway.

She chose the left and sprinted down the hall. If she chose wrong she had lost. The man would flee and her quest for vengeance would be over, probably for good. She ran past doors on either side and followed the hallway to the right. A large door barred her way. It was finely made with large iron hinges holding it in place. Pushing gingerly against it the door swung gently open.

A large four poster bed adorned the room, wispy gossamer curtains tumbling down to the floor. Moonlight peered through the open window casting ghostly shadows about the room. The largest bear skin she had seen covered the floor. Gilding ran down and around every piece of wood furniture in the room. This had to be Gordon’s room. While he lived in opulence his people wallowed in filth and despair.

She stepped into the room but did not see her prey. He quartered here. She would turn from stalker to ambusher. If he had not fled the grounds he had to come to bed sometime. If he had fled she would take her search to his hunting lodge. It’s not as if she were unfamiliar with that place.

“My pet has returned, after all these years. Here to exact revenge I suppose for her precious family,” Gordon said behind her.

She was a fool. He had been hiding behind the door. Miranda turned to face him resisting the urge to remove her knife from her bodice. “You should have made sure I was dead.”

“I will make sure of it tonight,” Gordon said. “But not before we relive some of those good old days. What do you say, whore?”

Gordon charged at her. Instinctively, Miranda rolled away, grabbed his arm and threw him at the corner post of his bed. She heard the satisfying crunch of his nose breaking as it slammed into the bed.

“It looks like the old bitch has learned some new tricks,” Gordon said turning around, wiping away the blood that was now trickling out of his nose.

“You have learned a few moves yourself. I saw your performance with your old captain’s daughter.”

“Oh, that was a good wench. She screamed for hours for me. You wouldn’t believe how much a woman can squirm with her entrails released.”

The man charged again. She rolled the opposite way but his move was a feint. She had rolled right into his arms. His large hands grabbed her wrist, the other pinning her arm against his body. Gordon picked her up and slammed her into the wall, knocking the wind out of her.

“Where are your fancy moves now? I was hoping for some more foreplay before the festivities truly began.” The man pressed his lips to the curve of her neck and bit hard. He let go of her arm and squeezed her breast. She curled her fist into a ball and tried to swing but his positioning blocked any leverage. Her fist came down hollowly on his back without any force.

Miranda squirmed trying to get free and screamed. The man lifted his head and laughed, a wild passion in his eyes. Miranda managed to squeeze her arm behind herself and the wall. She reached her hand inside her bodice and grabbed the only lifeline she had.